Wishing on a Rodeo Moon (Women of Character) by Grace Brannigan Page B

forward again.
    "I
know you can do it yourself," he said impatiently. "I also know you
could've gotten out of the pool by yourself. Nobody's saying you can't do
anything and everything on your own. It’s just that there’s nothing
wrong with accepting a helping hand."
    "Help
isn't going to do me any good when I'm alone," she retorted bitterly.
"If I start depending on people, pretty soon I won't be able to do
anything."
    Jake
gave a short laugh.
    Incredulous,
Tye jerked her head up. "Are you laughing at me?"
    "Yes,"
he said, shaking his head with amusement. "I can’t imagine you not
being able to fend for yourself. You’re the most independent woman I
know. It’s laughable."
    "Now
you’re saying I’m a joke?" Tye demanded, unable to keep the
hurt from her voice.
    "Tye,
come on, get over it. You know that’s not what I’m implying. You
have never been helpless in your life. Your grit and determination will never
allow you to be helpless. You’ll always be able to climb out of any pit
― that’s the way you are. It’s what I admire about you. If
you cool off a minute and think about it, you’ll know I’m speaking
the truth."
    If Jake
wanted to strike her speechless, he’d done so.
    "Anyway,"
he demanded, "who says you have to be alone?"
    Tye
narrowed her eyes, anger bursting inside as her temper took over. "I do,
dammit! Who wants to look at this leg every day? I certainly don't. It makes me
sick."
    "Your
anger is understandable, but you’ve got to accept the leg is gone and
nothing’s going to change that."
    "You
can talk till you're blue in the face, Jake Miller, but you haven't got a clue
what it's like to go your own way and one day it's all gone. To wake up and
discover your mother gave them the okay to hack off a leg."
    "Your
mother would never okay that unless it was absolutely, medically
necessary."
    Jake’s
voice sounded cold. So cold Tye shivered with self disgust.
    She put
her head down, misery a tangible pain inside. "Oh God! I know you’re
right. I-I was unconscious for three days. Mama had to make the decision."
    She
darted Jake a glance. His face looked white, maybe with anger and disgust, but
he didn’t say anything.
    "Everything
went down the tubes. My life, my career. Everything." The damning tears
ran down her cheeks. Tye wiped ineffectively at them with her wet shirtsleeve.
She felt embarrassed, ashamed by her outburst, hardly able to believe the
resentment she had been harboring.
    "I
do know what it’s like," Jake said into the silence that followed
her outburst. His voice was stark and he sounded fed up with her.
    Tye
looked at him. "I’m sorry, Jake. I’m insensitive. Of course
you do. You gave up everything to take care of your family. Everything was
pulled out from under you." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Even
I abandoned you."
    "Drop
it, it’s in the past."
    Tye
wanted to say more, but the dark look on Jake’s face stopped her. She
drew a shaky breath instead. "You’re right, it’s the past, old
history." She tossed her hair back, feeling a shiver work its way across
her shoulders. "Everything was fine until you started using amateur
psychology on me."
    Jake put
the towel and limb under his arm and squatted beside Tye. "You weren't
doing fine. You were pretending and running scared. We all do it from time to
time. You're so afraid of being vulnerable, you step away from anything even
remotely related to help. But you can't be strong every minute." His palm
reached out to cradle her jaw. For a moment Tye let herself go weak and lean
into that touch. Right now she did not want to be strong. She wanted to be
enfolded in Jake’s arms. She wanted him to kiss her again, but longer and
deeper. Tye pulled herself back from temptation with difficulty.
    "You're
damn fool crazy," she retorted. His words made sense but Tye didn't want
to admit it. She was afraid it would give him some kind of power over her. She
wasn’t that same young girl who had adored him.
    "Am
I, Tye? When